From Technician to Professional: Transitioning your Career Goal to Licensure

Corrected Date: Friday, November 9, 2018

Clark University MetroWest Campus

333 Turnpike Road, (Route 9), Southborough, MA (off I-495, Exit 23A)

8:00 - 8:30 AM Registration; 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM Seminar

Over the last few decades of technological change, the path to licensure as a Professional Land Surveyor has become much more challenging and varied. Before the explosion in surveying technology that began in the 1980’s, the path to licensure was pretty simple. You worked for someone, they taught you what they knew, you picked up a few additional tricks along the way, you took an exam or two and you became licensed. The world is different now. We could spend days trying to figure out exactly what changed, when it changed or why, but the fact remains that to become a Registered Professional Land Surveyor today requires much more knowledge and preparation than it did a few decades ago. We have a lot of high-power technology at our fingertips, but it is incumbent on the licensee to not only know how to push buttons and get an answer to pop out, but they must understand what is going on in all the proverbial “black boxes” they use to be assured the answer is correct.

Registered Professional Land Surveyors have a paramount duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. It may seem a cliché, but the profession’s history teaches us that this is a sacred charge and comes with much responsibility. We also know that licensure has many privileges as well. It allows you to control your own destiny and further increase your own value in the marketplace. You can own your own business offering services directly to the public and you can work for yourself, thereby allowing lifestyle flexibilities that many find attractive. It can also provide financial rewards and security that come with greater versatility.

The presenter has been on the front lines of surveying education for nearly four decades. He will be drawing from his academic, technical, professional association and practice experience to help attendees understand the requirements of licensure today and the various ways to approach a transition from technician to licensure.

Specific topics that will be covered:

The future of the surveying industry and profession;

What is engineering and what is surveying;

The differences between a technician and a licensee;

What a licensee does;

Technical knowledge needed: Technician vs. Professional

Professional responsibility and liability associated with licensure.

The NSPS Certified Survey Technician Program;

Education and experience requirements for licensure: locally and nationally;

The NCEES examination process;

Local, regional and national educational opportunities for technicians;

NOTE: This seminar is not intended for practicing Land Surveyors nor is it intended to meet continuing education requirements for practicing Land Surveyors.

Speaker

A. Richard Vannozzi, MS, PLS

Mr. Vannozzi is a graduate of the University of Maine where he earned a BS in Forestry with high honors and concentrations in both forest management and surveying in 1984 and an MS in Forestry (with a surveying emphasis) in 2006. From 2007-2017, Mr. Vannozzi completed an additional 40 credits of graduate course work in geomatics and adult education while enrolled in the doctoral program in Natural Resources at the University of Connecticut. Mr. Vannozzi is an assistant professor in the Civil Engineering Department at The Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston where he teaches geomatics, surveying and related courses. Along with developing Wentworth’s PLS Certificate Program in 2003, Mr. Vannozzi has recently spearheaded his department’s effort in creating and securing approval of a Surveying minor, whereby students can include 18 credit hours of surveying courses as part of their BS in Civil Engineering, (or other) degree work.

He is registered as a professional land surveyor in Massachusetts. Before reorienting his career to focus on surveying education in 2003, Mr. Vannozzi worked in private practice for 19 years, specializing in ancient boundary retracement, boundary dispute resolution, and title, boundary and zoning litigation. Mr. Vannozzi maintains a small consulting practice that specializes in complex boundary, title and zoning matters for select clients including attorneys and other professional land surveyors.

Mr. Vannozzi was the 2012 recipient of ACSM’s Earle J. Fennell Award for distinguished educational contributions to ACSM and the surveying and mapping profession. He is a past-president of MALSCE and, in 1998, was recognized as MALSCE’s Surveyor of the Year. He is a past president of The Engineering Center and currently serves on the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) Board of Directors representing Massachusetts. In 2017, Mr. Vannozzi was elected a Fellow of NSPS.

Registration Information

Registration fees are $200/person for MALSCE members and $250/person for non-members. See form for details. Registration fee includes a continental breakfast, two snack breaks, lunch and all seminar handouts. Registration is processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Registration deadline: Tuesday, November 6, 2018. No refunds will be given after this date. No-shows will be billed. Seminar registrations will be accepted via fax, mail or online. Fax your registration to 617/227-6783. Mail your registration form and check (payable to “MALSCE”) to: MALSCE, The Engineering Center, One Walnut Street, Boston, MA 02108-3616.

Continuing Education

This seminar is worth 6.5 professional development hours (subject to state-specific exclusions; seek clarification from appropriate state authorities). All seminar participants will receive a certificate documenting attendance at the end of the seminar. Please complete the registration form with your legal name, address, and other contact information so that you will be properly identified on the certificate.

Tax Information

Expenses incurred for education undertaken to maintain and improve professional skills (including travel, meals and lodging) may be tax-deductible.